http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/arizona-diamondback-justin-upton-oakland-athletics-set-for-busy-offseason-102012

Found it interesting that Rosenthal believes the Young trade to be a prelude to a move involving Upton. This specific quote should be interesting to those around this parts:

"The D-Backs, even after moving Young, can part with Upton and still go with an outfield of Jason Kubel, rookie Adam Eaton and Gerardo Parra next season, with A.J. Pollock in reserve ... perhaps Upton could bring a shortstop. The position is hardly secure for Arizona, even after the addition of Pennington. Willie Bloomquist and John McDonald are the other internal options at short — McDonald, a highly valued utility man, could be traded."

"Can" and "will" are not necessarily synonymous. Be careful taking "can" from the article and making it "will" in the title of your post.

I agree with Marco. The article does not say he will be traded. It merely says there is a possibility.

Still, Chris Young and Justin Upton were homies in Arizona. I recall a game towards the end of the year when one of them (Young I believe) was arguing a call with an ump, and the next half inning Upton got ejected for going after the same ump. Purely conjecture from my end, but I believe they each had problems with the manager, while still having each other's back.

Who out there is a better available shortstop than Elvis Andrus? Elvis is a top-5 ML SS at the worst, and is only making a little over $11M the next two years.

I think there's a perfect opening that's developed for a trade involving Elvis Andrus + David Murphy and a prospect or two for Upton and a platoon bat.

I wouldn't mind doing Andrus/Young (eat half the salary, if they even want him)/Murphy for Upton/McDonald/LHP Prospect

True - Rosenthal didn't come out and guarantee a trade. But when he says things like, "I’ll believe Justin Upton will be a Diamondback in 2013 when I see him in an Arizona uniform on Opening Day."

That is a little more than saying that there is a "possibility" that he will be traded. But I agree, it's also not a guarantee.

Andrus-Murphy-2 prospects for Upton. That's laughable Eric

@Jim - You can't just talk shit and then not elaborate. The whole purpose of the forum is to spark conversations. You simply clutter it up with posts such as the above.

Add some substance.

Don't feed the troll. Elvis + some for Upton and a bat sounds good to me. Part of me would be very tempted to see if Towers has basically just lost his mind and offer him Olt/Perez+ for Upton and see if he would take it.

After that trade over the weekend I could see it happening. The DBacks need a SS and a 3b. Offer the less valuable piece first, Olt, and see if they bite on him.

I want no part of an Elvis for Upton deal.

Why all the interest in Upton. We can get that kind of production from Murphy.

Jim is right. In the 5 yrs that Upton had played regularly he has averaged 21 HRs and 70 RBI. Cm on guys-THINK.

jdw-atx
You mean like that 'nugget' you just posted?? lmao

http://www.theunticket.com/audio/drops/mike-stammer6.mp3

Wow... first off, an elite ss alone for a headcase COF with marginal production would be an unmitigated steal for the D-Backs. If they got Olt alone, they might consider it just to get rid of their problems.

How about Olt for Upton then cut him so he doesn't pollute our clubhouse. Yeah... there's a winner... lol

My thoughts exactly Ed If Upton is the 'answer'--I'd like to know what's the question?

Yeah I'm not really on the Elvis for Upton train either. Both Uptons look good on paper but replacing a team first...I'll do anything to win type guy (Elvis) for a headache that cares more about his numbers than the team (take your pick of Uptons here)...that just doesn't appeal to me.

If we make a deal with Arizona, I'd be targeting Goldschmidt and Ian Kennedy.

Upton is 25 and has played four full seasons in the MLs. In that time, he has averaged 4.2 WAR/season. In 2012, at age 31, Murphy best season of his career, he amassed a total of 4.0 WAR.

Murphy's career season is not even as good as Upton's average season. And Upton is 25. And Upton is under control for several relatively affordable years.

Even in 2012, while dealing with a lingering shoulder issue, Upton had a solid 2.5 WAR season. If you don't like Upton, that's cool. But stop littering the boards with untruths. Nothing about Upton suggests that he is or ever has been a "COF with marginal production."

17HRs/70 RBi Avg last 5 yrs. Just saying that's not my idea of replacing ANYONE. We can get that production from Murphy /Cruz

MURPHY

AB-457
HR/RBI-15-61
SO--74
OPS-783

UPTON
AB-554
HR/rbi-17-67
SO-121
OPS-.785

Let's see. 100 fewr ABs. Same OPS. Basically same HR/RBI with Murphy having fewr at bats. Murphy 47 fewer SOs.

WOW--We haven't signed Upton yet? LMAO

It's laughable to compare Justin Upton and David Murphy. Seriously. The last 4 years Upton has accumulated 16.4 fWAR. And like utb said, he's still only 25. David Murphy's 2012 (4.0 fWAR) more than doubled the output of the best season of his career (1.9 fWAR in 2010). Murphy is heading into the last year of his contract in his age-32 season; Upton has 3 years left and hasn't even hit his prime. So who's really the better option? No brainer.

Also, the "head case" talk is all speculation. Justin doesn't get along with Kirk Gibson. Gibson's a 'my way or the highway' type manager. He's had problems with players before. Shit happens. As for B.J., do you honestly think if he had any problems in the TB clubhouse, that Joe Madden would have kept him? That team is all about chemistry, which is a part of why they tend to overachieve on a yearly basis.

Eric:
I was beginning to think your teacher kept you after school. STOP IT with this Upton talk--He IS NOT coming here., BTW-he led the MAJORS in errors in 2010[10]. Not a good fit. I wouldnt even trade Kinsler for him. The fact you drool over him confirms even more that I am right. Now, go do your homework.

@ Eric

In terms of the team chemistry thing...the same could be said for the rangers and we still had guys like oswalt, CJ, and Hamilton...all questionable in terms of chemistry. Just because the rays overachieve most years doesn't necessarily mean that upton hasn't been a pain in the neck.

Sorry, but not wasting any more time debating whether Murphy is superior to Upton. It's ludicrous.

Every minute spent considering such an opinion makes us all dumber.